🏅Immigration, Ivy League, and NIL

Hey there,

Thanks for getting started with us this morning. Today we’ve got a packed-out issue covering the legal, financial, and business side of NIL.

First, one LSU basketball player is suing the US government for denying her a new visa classification, which could net her thousands in NIL money. We’ve also got updates on the Ivy League’s plans not to share revenues with their athletes, and Teamworks’ newest tech that’s hoping to eliminate the “athlete tax” that NIL earners feel on a day-to-day basis. It’s all coming up right now – stay tuned!

Before we get into that though, hit reply or send us an email at [email protected] to get in touch. We love hearing from you! Now, to the news!

— Cole, Justin and Collin

The Big 3

An NIL-Related Lawsuit Against… the United States?

Last-Tear Poa, an Australian basketball player for the LSU Tigers, has decided to file a lawsuit against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Her request for a P-1A visa – which would have allowed her to monetize her NIL more fully, was denied.

As of right now, student athletes on an F-1 visa can only benefit from NIL in “passive” ways, like selling their name, image, and likeness to merchandiser to make a jersey. But they can’t make money in “active” ways, such as attending an NIL-backed event, or even posting about sponsorship deals on social media.

Last-Tear Poa has 160K Instagram followers right now – that’s enough to make some serious money with NIL, but only if her lawsuit actually goes through. (More)

Ivy League will NOT Share Revenue with Athletes

According to the House Settlement’s lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler, the Ivy League won’t be paying their student-athletes revenue-share money in the future. Most other schools will be sharing about $20 million per year to their athletes.

This isn’t exactly a shocking development. The Ivy League doesn’t even offer athletic scholarships, and they’ve been outright resistant to nearly every change that the NIL revolution has brought on to date.

However, this will affect their ability to recruit high-end talent. With most athletes wanting some way to receive compensation, it remains to be seen whether the schools’ brand names alone will be enough to land good players. My guess? Probably not. (More)

The Teamworks Wallet is Here to Solve the “Athlete Tax”

Teamworks, one of the most important companies in the NIL-tech space, just began piloting their  “Teamworks Wallet” – a digital banking solution that’s supposed to put more money in athletes’ pockets.

When getting paid, many companies saddle athletes with additional fees, according to Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides. The Teamworks Wallet looks to eliminate those fees, which Maurides calls the “athlete tax.”

“Our goal when we created Wallet was to eliminate the athlete tax,” Maurides said. The solution is expected to be widely available to all schools sometime in 2025. (More)

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ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Paige Bueckers

• School: UCONN

• Sport: Basketball

• Position: Guard

• Class: Senior

• Accolades: 

• 2024 WBCA, AP, USBWA, and Wooden Award First Team All-America

• 2024 CSC First Team Academic All-America

• 2024 BIG EAST Player of the Year

• 2024 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year

• NIL: Paige becomes the first college basketball player to sign a groundbreaking NIL deal with Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 women's basketball league. Paige is getting ownership equity, making her the first NCAA athlete to have a stake in a pro league. 

NIL BLITZ

♦️ Memphis head basketball coach Penny Hardaway on his program’s NIL exodus: “Every team is definitely having those problems.”

♦️ The projected rev-share cap for 2025-26 sports: $20.5 million

♦️ Johnny Manziel and Greg Oden talk NIL in new podcast

♦️ NIL affects betting and gaming markets substantially, a new report claims

♦️ Media executives are concerned because kids are rarely watching sports anymore

♦️ Seton Hall’s AD: “Every day is a battle in the NIL world”

♦️ Marquette announces “Pledge-Per-Three Initiative” to take in NIL money from made three pointers

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Would you support a 20-team college basketball “super league”?

• I’m all in! - 38%

• Absolutely not! - 62%